


Missing in action

by Why_soawesome



Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: AU, Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Worried parent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:53:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29334099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Why_soawesome/pseuds/Why_soawesome
Summary: 1x20 AU where Rory runs off to the Richard and Emily's, leaving a worried Lorelai at home. Instead of Max coming over to comfort Lorelai, it's our boy Luke who does the comforting. Maybe some feelings come to the surface...
Relationships: Luke Danes & Lorelai Gilmore, Luke Danes/Lorelai Gilmore
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Missing in action

‘Rory, I’m back for round two,’ Lorelai says. She enters the house, managing to hold two bags from the market while gracefully, or what she thinks is gracefully opening and closing the door. 

‘I got some silly string in case things get really ugly.’ The house is quiet but that’s not odd, especially if Rory is still brooding or is in her room reading. As she walks to the kitchen, Lorelai gets a glimpse of Rory’s room.

‘Rory,’ she calls out as she places the bags on the kitchen table. Lorelai takes a better look at the open bedroom but there is no Rory to be found. Everything’s exactly as it was this morning. 

‘Where are you?’ she questions on her way to the living room. ‘Roryyyy.’ She stops and glances up towards the top of the stairs hoping that her daughter is up there. ‘Answer, please!’ She’s met with silence once again. 

‘Rory?’ She sighs, looking down at the floor at an attempt to control her emotions. 

Lorelai rushes up the stairs, going into her room first.

‘Rory? Come on, please tell me you’re just trying to get back at me somehow. You know Mummy won’t be mad but she’s kinda freaking out right now and it ain’t a good look on her.’ She moves away from her room, into the bathroom before going back downstairs. 

‘Rory? Where are you?’ She glances around the living room unsure of what to do with herself. She takes a moment to think and then quickly takes off her jacket before starting to frantically look for the house phone. She finds it wedged between the sofa cushions. Lorelai dials the first number that comes to mind. 

‘Luke’s.’ 

A glimmer of relief fills her body when she hears his voice, grateful that he answered so fast. 

‘Luke! Please for the love of God tell me that Rory is at the diner right now or at least that she just left or something!’ 

‘Lorelai? What?’ he questions, taken back with her sudden panic. He looks around the diner, double-checking that Rory hadn’t made it inside without him knowing. ‘She’s not here. I thought you were going to meet up with her. What happened?’

‘I did, but then we got into a fight or whatever that was, and she didn’t want to go into the market, and we don’t have light bulbs and then she went home, but I’m home and she isn’t here. That’s if she’s not suddenly become invisible to the naked eye. I don’t know where she is and I’m starting to get worried,’ Lorelai says while pacing from the living room to the kitchen and back. 

‘Lorelai, we’ll find her, okay.’ He takes off his apron, placing it under the counter. ‘You stay at home in case she shows up. You should maybe call Miss Patty and see if she saw her. If she hasn’t then she can pass the word along. I’ll take a lap around the square, pop into Mrs Kim’s and the bookstore to see if Rory went there.’ 

Lorelai nods as she listens to Luke rattle out a plan, not caring that he can’t see her. She walks into Rory’s room, picking up the worn-out teddy bear that sits beside Rory’s bed. She looks down at the stuffed toy, remembering the nights her little girl would creep into her bed with a death grip on the bear, after having had a nightmare. She swallows the lump that formed in her throat before simply saying, ‘Luke.’ 

‘I know, Lorelai. She’ll show up. So, try not to worry too much, okay?

‘Okay. I’ll try.’

An hour or so has gone by and nothing has helped ease Lorelai’s worry. She had called Miss Patty and Sookie but they both hadn’t seen her daughter. She’s now pacing in the living room questioning Mrs Kim on Lane’s whereabouts.

‘Could you just ask Lane to call me when she gets back? I’m looking for Rory. Yes, I know you talked to Luke, but I wanted to know if Lane had seen her. Yeah, alright.’ Lorelai turns the phone off, grunting at it and the fruitless conversations she’s had.   
She’s startled the moment she hears a knock and the door opening. She stands in the foyer, watching as Luke walks into the house. ‘Anything?’ 

‘Nothing, yet.’ 

Lorelai sighs at hearing his response, hoping that he had good news for her instead. ‘Damn it, where is she!’ 

‘I don’t know, Lorelai but we’ll find her,’ he says trying to calm her down. 

‘Why didn’t she leave a note? Rory doesn’t take off; she knows it would make me crazy! She knows it would make me worry. Luke, I’m crossing over into panic mode.’ She looks down at her slightly shaky arms as she extends them towards him.

He places his hands gently on her arms, steadying them. ‘Hey, no crossing over to panic mode yet, okay? He leads her to the sofa and sits down, making her do the same.

She doesn’t answer. Her eyes are now fixed forward on the pictures of Rory that are on top of the white, overly decorated mantle, very much lost in her thoughts.

‘Lorelai, look at me,’ he says nudging her. ‘She’s going to show up. I know I keep saying it, but we’ll find her, even if it means that we have to drive around Stars Hollow or even Hartford to do so. Did you call Mrs Kim asking about Lane?’ 

‘Yeah, I did. Lane wasn’t home, and clearly hell has frozen over because Rory is missing, doesn’t leave a note and now Mrs Kim who’s usually prison guard lady is suddenly all, ‘hey, man, whatever.’ Do you think Taylor is putting something in the water or what?’

‘I wouldn’t put it past him,’ he says, tapping Lorelai’s leg with his fist. ‘See, Lane isn’t home either so maybe Rory’s with her.’ 

‘Maybe, but I don’t know, Luke, I’ve got this really bad feeling in my stomach.’ 

‘Well, with all the crap you eat, I would be worried if your stomach didn’t feel bad.’ 

She rolls her eyes at him, but he’s not fooled by her annoyance as the end of her lips turn briefly into a smile. 

‘That’s not the point.’ She sighs before continuing, ‘I’ve got this feeling that something is wrong. Just the way no one has seen her. No note. Nothing. What if she’s hurt or lost? Luke, I don’t know what I would do with myself if something happened to her because we got it to some dumb fight.’ 

She turns her face away from him, hiding the fact her eyes are watery, but her voice has already given away how emotional she is. 

‘Hey.’ He shuffles closer to her and moves a strand of her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. ‘Don’t think that way. First, it isn’t your fault. Rory’s a big girl, so it’s no one’s fault but her own that she isn’t here right now, especially since she told you she would be. Secondly, Rory’s a smart kid so I know she’s okay. And for all we know she’s with Lane cooling down after the fight.’ 

‘Right, she might be with Lane,’ she says, trying to convince herself. 

Lorelai turns to look at Luke, just realising how close he is to her. It feels good. It feels comforting to have him right here by her side. His eyes. They have an odd calm to them. 

_Have they always looked this blue?_

The light stubble on his face seems to have grown a little more defined than it was earlier today when Lorelai had been dressing Luke, or maybe she had just been busy admiring other aspects of his being. Now, she has the urge to run her hand along the stubble her eyes are currently fixated on; the stubble of the man who left work without thinking twice to help her find her daughter, the man who has done so much for her and Rory in the little years of knowing each other. 

‘Thank you,’ she whispers. 

‘It’s no big deal. There isn’t anywhere else I would want to be right now but here helping you.’ 

Her heart warms hearing this because it’s such a typical Luke response to shrug off how meaningful his actions are. 

_Rachel._

The name suddenly pops into Lorelai’s mind. He’s here with her instead of his girlfriend. Is it not her birthday? 

‘Luke, shouldn’t you-’

The front door opens, and the sound makes Lorelai’s thoughts on Rachel completely evaporate from her mind. Knowing where her daughter is, is more important right now. 

‘Rory?’ she asks as she gets up from the sofa and looks over at the foyer to see who had just entered. 

‘No, sweetie, it’s just me.’ Sookie is quickly by Lorelai’s side. 

‘Any news?’ 

Sookie shakes her head as she says, ‘No one’s seen her yet, but the moment someone does, they’ll call. 

Any hope that had filled Lorelai’s body at seeing Sookie had vanished the moment her friend spoke. Lorelai falls back onto the sofa. She places her elbows on her knees and rests her head in her hands. ‘Where is she?’ she asks, her words muffled. 

‘Oh honey, we’ll hear something soon. I’m sure of it.’ 

Once she feels Sookie’s hand on her shoulder she lifts her head. ‘And if we don’t?’

‘Let’s not think like that.’ 

‘Dean,’ Luke says, his voice startles both ladies who had forgotten he’s sitting down on the other end of the sofa. 

Lorelai looks at him confused for a second before it hits her. ‘Dean! Maybe she’s with him?’ she asks while standing up.

‘I’m on it,’ Sookie says before hugging Lorelai. ‘Try not to worry too much, sweetie. I’ll call or page you if I hear anything on my way.’ 

‘Thank you, Sookie, for doing all this.’ Lorelai walks her to the door.

‘Honey, you know I’m always here for you.’ 

‘And I’m eternally grateful.’ She watches as her friend leaves. 

Lorelai walks away from the foyer to the kitchen. She passes the kitchen table that still holds the groceries she had discarded earlier. She leans on the door frame of Rory’s bedroom. Lorelai looks around admiring all the quirky things that make up Rory's room, but even though it’s filled with books, toys, and Harvard posters, it still feels empty without her daughter in it. 

She turns away from the room and walks to the kitchen table. The brown paper bags have become a darker shade from the frozen items Lorelai had brought, which have long melted away. She puts her hand into the first bag, gripping an ice cream container. The ice cream, which is now more cream than ice, is softer than Lorelai expected, meaning the tight grip she has on the container has caused the ice cream to spill over the other groceries, as well as Lorelai’s hand. 

‘Damn it!’ She throws the half empty container across the kitchen. It hits the fridge door and drops, spilling the rest of the ice cream onto the floor, fridge and cabinet doors. Lorelai sighs in frustration. She squeezes her eyes closed, trying to stop her tears from falling. 

_Why can’t I do anything right? Why can’t I find her?_

‘Lorelai,’ he whispers her name as gently as the hand he places on her back. 

Hearing his calming voice eases the thoughts that are racing through her mind. She opens her eyes, looks at him and says, ‘Luke, I…’ And just like before, she’s unable to express all that she’s currently feeling right now, but she doesn’t need to tell him. 

‘I know.’ He pulls one of the chairs out from under the table and makes Lorelai sit down. He then grabs a tea towel and hands it to her. ‘Here, clean your hand with this.’ 

‘Thanks.’ She takes the towel and does as told. 

Luke fills the coffee machine with coffee and some fresh water. As he waits for it to be ready, he starts putting her groceries away. The coffee finishes brewing, and he opens one of the top cabinets that holds the unique collection of mugs the girls have gathered throughout the years. He takes one out and smiles at it, hoping that the silly cat will help cheer her up. Luke looks at her. Lorelai has been staring off into space ever since sitting down. It’s going to take more than a cute mug to make her feel better. 

The sound of the mug being placed in front of her makes Lorelai look away from Rory’s empty bedroom, and towards the intoxicating liquid in the Garfield mug. 

‘You’re willingly giving me coffee without any rants?’ 

‘Don’t get used to it.’ 

She wraps her hands around the warm mug but doesn’t drink from it, too worried about the situation for coffee. Lorelai watches as Luke cleans the mess she made, and once he’s done, he continues to put away her groceries. If you didn’t know better, you would have thought Luke lived here too and it isn’t because he’s placing everything in the exact same place Lorelai does, but because he looks so at ease in her kitchen, as if being here and putting away groceries feels right to him. She smiles at the thought of Luke feeling at home in her house because it feels right to have him here, although she wouldn’t dare admit it. Not yet.

‘What are these for?’ Luke lifts the two packets of light bulbs from one of the bags. 

‘Well Luke, contrary to popular belief, I can’t see when it’s pitch black, hence the need for lights,’ she says gesturing to the bulbs he’s holding.   
  
He rolls his eyes and asks, ‘Where do you need them?’ He looks around the lit ground floor and assumes they might be for upstairs. 

‘My bedroom and the bathroom up there too.’   
  
‘Alright.’ He places the lights on the table, then grabs the empty bags and places them into the recycling. ‘Is it not good?’ 

‘What?’ 

‘The coffee.’ 

‘Oh, right.’ Lorelai looks down at the porcelain cat on the mug that she has been mindlessly caressing. ‘I’m sure it’s good, I’m just not really in the mood for it.’ 

Hearing that makes Luke worry a little because, yes, he knows Lorelai isn’t okay with Rory being missing, but not drinking coffee means she’s worse than he thought. He places his hand on her shoulder. ‘She’ll cool off and come home soon.’

‘I hope so.’ She smiles at him, but it isn’t her usual bright smile.

He gently caresses her shoulder trying his best to be reassuring. 

She looks into his eyes and is surprised to see just how much he cares for her and how much he means to her. What she can see in his blue eyes simultaneously makes her warm and fuzzy inside but also overwhelmed, because she knows all too well, that the feelings shown in his eyes are the mirror of her own. Their eye contact is broken when the phone starts ringing, making Lorelai jump from her chair.

Luke quickly takes a step back as Lorelai rushes into the living room to grab hold of the phone. 

‘Rory?’ 

‘I just wanted you to know that Rory is here with us.’

If it had been anyone else on the phone, and not her mother, Lorelai would have been happy at hearing that her daughter is safe.

‘What?’

‘She arrived a few minutes ago.’ 

Lorelai nods as she asks, ‘She’s there? Is she okay?’ 

‘She’s fine. She asked to spend the night.’ 

‘Okay, um…, so she’s there with you. How did she get there?’ Lorelai starts walking around the living room, trying to get a grip on the situation. 

‘She took a cab.’ 

‘Well, let me talk to her.’

‘She seems quite upset. She said you had a fight.’ 

‘We had a disagreement.’ 

‘She said fight.’ 

‘Will you just put her on the phone, please Mum,’ Lorelai says as she walks into the kitchen. 

‘I think we should give her a little time to collect herself.’ 

‘Thank you for your input. Can I please talk to my daughter?’ 

‘She went to her room, Lorelai’ 

‘Her room is here, Mum. I’m standing here, looking at her room and she’s not in it!

‘Lorelai, I did not come to your home and kidnap this child. She ran from you and she came here. She’s tired and she’s upset. I think we should just let her sleep, and in the morning, we can argue about how best to handle the situation. Maybe a little time away from each other would do both of you some good.’ 

‘I’ll pick her up in the morning,’ she says, as she sits down on the stool by Rory's door. 

‘She has school tomorrow, and her school is 10 minutes from here.’ 

‘I’ll pick her up after school,’ Lorelai says, quickly becoming annoyed with the conversation.

‘Why don’t you just call tomorrow when she gets back from school? Make sure she wants to go. You don’t want to be hauling her back home just to have her jump in a cab again, do you?’

‘I’ll talk to you tomorrow,’ she says, the frustration in her voice is very noticeable.

‘Goodbye Lorelai.’ 

At hearing her mother's words, she turns the phone off and sighs. 

‘Is she okay?’ Luke asks as he approaches Lorelai. 

‘She’s with my parents.’ She shrugs. 

‘Right, and that’s not good?’ he questions because she doesn’t look one bit happy at knowing Rory is safe.

‘She’s with my mother. Nothing good happens when she’s involved.’ 

‘But she’s safe.’ 

‘Do I have to remind you that she’s with Emily? No one is safe in that house with her there.’

‘Right.’ 

Lorelai gets up from the stool and swaps the phone for the mug she had left on the kitchen table. She then takes a sip from the now lukewarm drink, instantly scrunches up her face at the taste. 

‘Luke, why is your coffee so bad?’ She walks to the sink. The dark liquid effortlessly goes down the drain as she pours it out. ‘Your coffee at the diner is so much better.’

‘I guess that’s what happens when I leave the place for too long, all my skills just got right out the window.’

‘Oh, so that’s why you never go out, and all these years I just thought you were a hermit by choice.’ She smiles at him and then grabs the washing up liquid.

‘Damn. Now you know my secret.’ Luke leans back on the counter, watching her wash her mug, before starting on the left-over plates from what he’s hoping are last night's dinner and not from last weeks. 

Lorelai stops washing the dirty dish that’s in her hand and looks out the window. It feels like only yesterday she was in the same spot, catching her daughter talking with a boy. 

‘Breaking up with Dean has been so hard on her,’ she puts the dish down, flicks her wet and soapy hands before turning around to face Luke. 

‘Yeah.’ 

‘I just hate that she’s going through this. I mean she’s such a good kid. She’s so nice to everyone. She cares about everyone. And she’s walking around in this unbelievable pain. There is nothing I can do about it. She still won’t talk to me. She won’t tell me what happened.’ Lorelai dries her hands on the same towel Luke had given her earlier. 

‘I’ll tell you what happened. That Dean kid is a jerk and he finally let her know it.’ 

‘I wish I could pinch his head right off.’ She pinches the air to emphasise her point.

‘I’ll help.’

‘I warned him when I first met him. We were sitting right there.’ Lorelai points to the floor in the living room right by the sofa. ‘And I warned him that if he hurt her there would be hell to pay. Ugh. Maybe I can key his car.’

‘Or better yet, you can key Taylor’s car and tell him Dean did it.’

‘Yeah, that would be good!’

‘You can key Taylor’s car, tell him Dean did it. Also, tell him that Dean littered and walks his dog without a leash.’ 

‘He’ll run him out of town.’ 

‘Good.’ 

She looks down at the towel she’s still holding, smiling briefly at the fact he can always subtly make her feel better. 

‘I hate that she hasn't let me in, told me what happened. I hate that she’s there with my parents. Why did she go there of all places? I ran away from all that and I never expected her to do the complete opposite.’ She sighs, nervously playing with the fuzzy fabric in her hands. ‘Am I doing something wrong? Am I being a bad mother or what?’ Lorelai throws the towel on the table, frustrated with herself. 

‘You are not a bad mother, Lorelai. Ever since I met you all I’ve seen is you constantly putting Rory’s needs and life before your own. You’ve worked so hard for all you have and you’re taking care of her so well. You should be proud of the mother you are, and I’m sure Rory would agree with me. She just needs some time to figure things out’ 

‘Yeah, figure things out away from me.’ 

‘No. Away from this town. From Dean. She’s just trying to deal with everything the best she can. I get her need to think away from the town, from all the prying eyes of the gossip wheel. I prefer to get out of here whenever I really need to think things through, so I get it.’

‘Right. You know for a monosyllabic guy; you have much knowledge.’ 

‘Well, I have my moments.’   
  
‘Yeah.’ She pulls on the ends of her shirt. ‘Would it be too over the top if I drove there and brought her back home?’ she asks, walking out the kitchen to the little table by the entrance to the living room where her car keys are on. 

‘Didn’t I just tell you that it’s best to give her the space she needs?’

‘What?’ She gasps. ‘I don’t remember you ever saying that.’ She picks up the keys, rubbing the Buttercup keyring with her thumb.

Luke rolls his eyes as he says ‘Lorelai, come on.’   
  
‘Come on, as in you’re calling shotgun?’ She grins and dangles the keys in the air briefly.  
  
‘No. As in, drop the keys and sit yourself down.’ 

She sighs as she lets Luke lead her towards the sofa, but she doesn’t sit down. ‘Luke, we need to break her out of there before my mother turns Rory into a mini Emily.’ 

He shakes his head. ‘We can’t break her out when it was Rory’s choice to be there in the first place.’

‘Ah, just keep on adding salt to my wounds,’ she says, finally sitting down.

‘Sorry.’ He sits beside her.

‘No, you’re right. It was her choice.’ Lorelai looks down at the keys in her hands. Once again, she rubs the keyring with her fingers, remembering the proud smile on her daughter’s face when she had saved enough pocket money to buy the keyring, gifting the little Powerpuff girl to Lorelai. 

‘I can’t help but want to drive there and hug her, tell her things will be okay. I just want her to need me. For her to talk to me.’

‘And once Rory is ready, she’ll let you in. She’ll let you comfort her, but right now she just needs some time to think.’ He places his hand on her wrist for a quick moment, stopping her from playing with the keys in her hand. ‘Lorelai, you know if the roles were reversed you would be telling me to give my kid space, so listen to your own advice.’ 

‘Well, I am a great advice giver, aren’t I?’ She puts the keys down on the coffee table and then leans back onto the sofa, sighing. ‘It’s going to be hard to fight the urge to drive off and bring her home.’

‘That’s why I’m here.’ He smiles and taps her leg with his knuckles. ‘So, what dumb movie do you want to force me to watch with you?’ 

At hearing him say this a big smile forms on Lorelai’s face and Luke can’t help but feel smug at being the reason behind it. 

‘Luke! They’re not dumb movies!’ She crosses her arms over her chest, but they fall to her side when she thinks about all the movies she wants to make Luke watch. ‘Are you really going to watch any movie I want?’

‘Yep.’ Luke gets up and walks up to Lorelai’s TV stand where some of her movies are placed. 

‘Wow! I should be pathetic more often.’ 

‘You’re not pathetic,’ he says, looking through the collection. 

‘And you’re too kind.’ She watches as he picks up one of the tapes and reads the description on the back of the box. 

Luke places the tape back in the disorganised pile it came from. ‘Okay, you pick whatever you want from this weird collection you’ve accumulated, and I’ll make something for us to eat. What do you want? And please don’t make it complete crap.’

‘Luke can you stop talking bad about my movies, they have feelings, you know.’ She looks down at her hands. ‘I’m actually not hungry.’ 

Luke stops walking to the kitchen when he hears her answer. ‘Really? When was the last time you ate anything? Don’t tell me that the only thing in your stomach are those disgusting sugar cinnamon pretzels you had earlier.’ 

‘Well, since you don’t want me to tell you, I won’t.’ 

He shakes his head. ‘I’m making you something healthy to eat.’ 

‘Luke, as well intended as your actions are, I’m really not in the mood to eat anything.’ She subconsciously puts her hand on her stomach.

‘You sure? I could make you some chicken noodle soup. It’s not too heavy and means that your body isn’t just relying on the tons of sugar and coffee you've consumed all day. 

She thinks about his warm soup and the thought oddly seems to make her feel a little better. ‘If it’s not a hassle to make, then sure, some of your soup actually sounds nice.’ 

‘Okay. I might need to go to the market to get somethings because I’m sure you don’t have all that I need.’ 

‘Yeah, I doubt that I do,’ she says as she gets up. 

‘I’m going to get going then.’ Luke is about to head to the foyer, but he turns around. ‘No driving to Hartford and getting Rory while I’m gone.’ 

‘I won’t.’ She sighs. ‘Just going to call Sookie, tell her to stop the search party. Plus, I’m going to be busy picking a movie that’s going to make you regret ever telling me to choose a movie in the first place.’ She smiles at him. 

He rolls his eyes and then leaves the house. 

The moment she hears the door close she sits back down on the sofa, bringing her hands onto her face and sighing. Lorelai sinks her body deeper into the cushions wishing they would just eat her whole. Maybe then she wouldn’t feel so emotionally drained. 

Her phone starts to ring. She takes it out of her back pocket and looks at the caller ID. 

_Max._

She sighs again and lets the call go to voicemail. She calls Sookie instead. 


End file.
